The Spanish Episcopal Conference has presented the data of the tax allocation registered in favor of the Church in the 2020 Income Tax Return, corresponding to the economic activity developed in 2019.
7,297,646 people marked the X in favor of the Catholic Church in the Income Tax Return, which means, counting joint returns, 8.5 million taxpayers. A number that means 106,000 new declarations in favor of the Church in the 2019 exercise.
5% increase
The data has been released this morning by the Spanish Episcopal Conference. Considering that each taxpayer who marks X contributes an average of €35.4 to the Church, the result is close to €301.07 million. This represents an increase of 5.85% over the previous year, "which will enable more effective assistance to those who need it most."as stated in the note issued by the EEC.
In this note of presentation of the data, the Spanish Episcopal Conference wanted to emphasize that the income tax campaign "The Church's efforts to multiply its presence and attention to the most disadvantaged groups coincided with the hardest months of the first wave of the pandemic. The 106,259 new declarations that marked the X of the Church, show the social and personal support to the work carried out by the Church during this time, and multiply by four the increase of X in the Income Tax Declaration of the previous year"..
Data by Autonomous Communities
The amount collected in favor of the Church grows in all the autonomous communities without exception, and in thirteen of them, in addition, there is also an increase in the number of taxpayers marking the X. The number of tax returns increases especially in Andalusia, Madrid, Castilla Mancha and Comunidad Valenciana. The number of declarations increases above all in Andalusia, Madrid, Castilla la Mancha and the Valencian Community. On the other hand, the Basque Country recorded the largest decrease.
The regions where higher percentage of people decide to collaborate with the X in the Income Tax Return to support the Church are Castilla La Mancha (45.18%), La Rioja (44.77%), Extremadura (44.03%), Murcia (43.68%) and Castilla y León (42.3%). Almost half of the declarations choose to support the work of religious entities.
At the other extreme, the Canary Islands (25.6%), Galicia (24.7%) and Catalonia (16.9%) have the lowest allocation rates.
Figures do not yet show the crisis
Marking the X in favor of the Catholic Church does not mean paying more or receiving less money in the refund, in case it is favorable.
In spite of the socioeconomic crisis we are going through, the EEC wanted to highlight the generosity of the Spanish people, although it points out these "figures do not yet show the economic consequences of the pandemic situation in Spain since the first quarter of 2020.". He also wanted to recall that "This contribution is decisive to support the immense work of the Church, which, in order to continue to help in this crisis, needs more than ever the collaboration of everyone.".
Church's work in pandemic
The note also includes the portal www.iglesiasolidaria.es in which the Church's work with those who are suffering in a special way due to the situation caused by the pandemic is described.
